60 Days
by inshock-sherlock
Summary: AU: When Sherlock is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he enlists in the assistance of his dear friend, John Watson. However, an unexpected occurrence leaves him stranded in the Scottish Highlands at the hands of evil wizard, Jim Moriarty. Desperate to save his only friend, John embarks on a journey to London on foot. The catch? He only has 60 days before Sherlock is gone forever.


"In times of grief and sorrow I will hold you and rock you and take your grief and make it my own. When you cry I cry and when you hurt I hurt. And together we will try to hold back the floods to tears and despair and make it through the potholed street of life"

― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

John wandered from the kitchen into the living room, warm mug of tea in hand his right hand and _The Guardian _propped under his left arm. He walked in a way that was not entirely graceful, yet more composed than most people travel on foot in their old age. He carefully perched himself on the armchair, ensuring that no tea spilled on the lavish design of green and cream stripes. He rest his mug on the pine end table positioned to the right of him, on top of a pile of aged books and notebooks that had been collecting for him to read, and began to lift his newspaper from underneath his arm and lay it out upon his lap, taking care to smooth out all the creases formed by the folding.

A majestic, old woman peeped her head around the kitchen door, peering at John whom was fully immersed on a story about the new governmental changes to the education system. He clenched his fist with furrowed brows, eyes widening as he threw himself deeper into the land of politics and current affairs. The woman sighed, shaking her head slightly with a gentle smirk of amusement. "Darling." She projected her voice into the room before entering with her head held high with confidence and strides that asserted her dominance throughout the household. "I see you are frustrated, please-" She said, reaching her hand out towards the paper in an attempt to pull it away from the man, "give it to me."

John held on tighter to the newspaper, protecting it from her possession like a young child with a new toy. As the woman began to pull on to the newspaper harder, John raised his head to gaze directly into her soft, concerned eyes. He reluctantly let go and quickly diverted his gaze towards his mug of tea. "I'm sorry, Mary."

"Look, John. Since your retirement you have been sitting here doing nothing all day. You're becoming depressed and I don't have to be bloody Sherlock Holmes to see it."

John winced at the name, lashing out his hand to grab his mug and drink the contents within to distract himself and calm his nerves. Sherlock and himself had not conversed since he stopped solving crimes with him five years ago and ever since that day. Although John had Mary, he always felt empty inside and not only did this confuse him, but it made him feel guilt towards his relationship with his wife. Mary was not unintelligent and could sense John's feelings, however, she decided to keep these thoughts at the back of her mind as she loved this man and that was all that mattered.

"Maybe you should talk to him again, catch up." Mary sincerely suggested. She wanted nothing more than for John to get some fresh air. "Please. It would be good."

"No. Mary. This is Sherlock we are talking about! He does not 'catch up.' He didn't want to speak to me, fine. I won't bother him. He is probably content enough working on his bloody cases without me." The resent laced his words and tears brimmed in his eyes. "I am going out." John rest the mug on the end table and began to peel himself from the armchair. "I will be back for tea." Whilst those words were escaping from his mouth he lunged towards his black coat that was hanging on the coat rack beside the front door. When the coat was covering him comfortably, ready to shield him from the harsh February weather, he lifted his grey woolen scarf from the next peg along and exited the house, slamming the door behind him whilst Mary looked on bewildered, happy yet worried.

**AN: Thank you for reading this first chapter! I have many plans for this story and don't worry, I will delve into it right away in the next few chapters! Please review and I am open to any suggestions you have about the story ^-^**

**Adios!**


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